For Indian pilot Smit Machchhar, hailed as a hero for preventing the crash of a Flydubai plane from Dubai to Tel Aviv, aviation was never a childhood dream.
Machchhar planned to enter the family textile business until he became interested in aviation at age 19, much to his mother's concern, Reuters' India bureau said. The day before, the captain of the aircraft was attacked by the co-pilot and Machchhar was stabbed.
According to Israeli authorities, the pilot, who was lying on the cockpit floor bleeding, was able to press the door unlock button, after which one of the passengers and crew members rushed into the cockpit. The landing at Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia was carried out by the second crew who were on board and were supposed to relieve the pilots on the way back.
“Without fear for his own life, he [Machchhar] fought valiantly and prevented a 9/11-like attack,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday.
Even earlier, he wrote on social media X: “Captain Smith Machchhar is a HERO. "Faced with great danger and seriously injured, he showed incredible courage and an unwavering determination to save the lives of others."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also thanked Machchhar for his “exceptional courage.”
“Despite receiving stab wounds and serious injuries, he fought back, resisted, opened the cockpit door and allowed the passengers and crew to neutralize the attacker, thereby preventing a mid-air disaster. He saved the lives of 174 people, including citizens of Israel and other countries,” the Israeli Prime Minister wrote on Wednesday, wishing the pilot a speedy and complete recovery.
“He is a true hero,” Netanyahu said.
Captain Machchhar grew up in Mumbai, where his parents still live.
The seasoned Boeing 737 pilot, with nearly 9,750 hours of flight time over his roughly 15-year career, came to aviation relatively late in life.
“Unlike many other pilots, aviation was not my dream since childhood,” he said in an interview published in 2025. “This hobby appeared in my life much later.”
After finishing school, Machchhar enrolled in a course in textile technology, planning to continue the family business, and then went on to study management at a management institute in Mumbai. It was there, at an aviation seminar when he was about 19 years old, that he discovered the world of aviation, writes Reuters.
“Aviation really captivated me,” said the pilot.
Machchhar later trained in New Zealand and began working for the Indian airline SpiceJet, where he eventually rose to the position of captain instructor, responsible for training young pilots. According to his LinkedIn profile, he worked for SpiceJet for 11 years before joining Flydubai as an experienced pilot in 2022.
According to his LinkedIn profile, the pilot has more than 9,750 hours of flight time, including more than 6,400 hours as a pilot-in-command.
SpiceJet, his former employer, like Netanyahu and Modi, called Macchhar a hero who saved “countless lives.”
Philip Keane, chief executive of Mainland Air, told the BBC that he knows him as someone who remains calm in critical situations.
“We trained him on what to do in a forced landing, but not in these circumstances - these situations are extremely rare,” Keene said. “It was a long time ago, but he has established himself as a good and conscientious employee.”
“In aviation terms, I was lucky to grow up among people who helped me become the pilot I am today,” said the pilot himself, noting the merits of senior pilots who taught him to cope with stressful situations.
“When I leave the cockpit or leave the plane, I don’t want others to know that I’m a pilot,” said the future hero. — I don’t want to discuss aviation. In the form - no questions, just do your job and complete the task. But as soon as you left the cabin, that’s it, forget about it. Now other people need you. There are children there. They want to play with you."
“Giving as much attention to your personal life will help you fly longer,” Machchhar advised.
Questions still remain unanswered regarding the motives and background of the co-pilot who stabbed the captain of the passenger airliner.
Israeli authorities believe it was an attempt to deliberately crash the plane, which was carrying more than 170 people. “Everything points to him trying to crash the plane and its passengers,” Netanyahu said in his first statement about the incident.
He later said that the attacker was being investigated in Saudi Arabia and that, in his opinion, the detainee would be transferred to the United Arab Emirates, from where the plane was flying to Tel Aviv.
“We will monitor this investigation and perhaps take part in it,” Netanyahu said in an interview with Fox News.
Asked if there were any signs of Iranian involvement, Netanyahu said it was too early to talk about it. “We will get to the bottom of this: who the attacker was, whether he had accomplices, whether Iran was behind this. I think we will find out very soon,” said the Israeli Prime Minister.
